One of the things I love most about travelling is the opportunity to see how other people live everyday life. What they eat, wear, drive, or do for fun. Having grown up on a dairy farm, I really love seeing different breeds of cattle, methods of gardening or other agricultural pursuits. It was a lot of fun for me to compare Panama with the two other countries I’ve visited; Guatemala and Barbados. I felt like Panama was kind of a cross between the two. Panamanians look and speak Spanish like Guatemalans, but the foods they eat and crops they grow are a lot like those I saw in Barbados, an island on the Caribbean.

Apart from a few dairy breeds, most of the cows we saw in Panama were Brahmans. Brahmans were first bred in the States during the early 1900's, a cross between four types of Zebu cattle from India. They are extremely heat resistant, insect resistant due to their thick skin, and can live longer than other cows, some still having calves at 15 years and older. Brahmans are used mainly for meat production (and bull fighting in certain parts of the Middle East). I had to laugh when I pointed out a truck load of these cows to my sister. She was half asleep because her flight had come in around 11 pm, but sat straight up when she saw the cows. "Brahmans! Oh my gosh, I've never seen Brahmans before! Wow, that's sooooo cool..." she said as we passed the truck, turning around in her seat to see the cows as long as possible. I looked over at Hubs as if to say, See? I'm not the only one who thinks cows are cool!

Brahman bull

Red brahman

We did not see a whole lot of agricultural crops while we were in Panama, but on our way to Santa Catalina (for SCUBA diving) we drove through some more rural areas. A lot of the land was pasture, presumably for cows, but we also saw some farmers baling hay in small square bales, and fields of one of their major crops: sugar cane!

Sugar cane

Sugar cane truck

Other agricultural products of Panama include bananas, cocoa beans, coffee, coconuts, timber, beef, chickens, shrimp, corn potatoes, rice, and soybeans. Panama actually imports more food than it exports, with most of that food coming from the United States.

Many of Panama's farmers do subsistence farming, which means they grow enough food to feed and clothe themselves, but little or no crops for export. A subsistence farmer will focus more on what their family needs to eat for the following year than what market prices are or what they can sell to earn money. Food grown by this type of farmer tends to stay in the community rather than be trucked all over. In the United States, we might call someone like this a "homesteader" or "off-grid". These are people that eat, wear, and live in the crops and animals they grow on their diversified farm.

Homesteading in Panama

Author Tony Waters writes: "Subsistence peasants are people who grow what they eat, build their own houses, and live without regularly making purchases in the marketplace." We saw quite a few of these little huts on the way to and from Santa Catalina.

Another interesting tidbit of agriculture here is the presence of "living fences". That is, where tree cuttings are placed in the ground, grow, and become permanent fence posts. My plant book devotes an entire chapter to these living fences, and it's something I'd like to try sometime on our own property.

New living fence.

Mature living fence!

While much of US agriculture is focused on new, shiny, bigger and better, we did not see much nice farm equipment while we were in Panama. We saw more old, run down equipment driving through the countryside.

Something to Bring HomeOne of the reasons I enjoy seeing and learning about subsistence farming in particular is because it's something I can do here at home. The idea of subsistence farming is outdated here in the United States, but I think it can still work on a small scale. No, I don't think you can make EVERYTHING yourself. But you can make a lot of things yourself if you have some free time to do so. Certainly stay-at-home wives and moms can do a little subsistence farming, and I know single guys who enjoy hunting and gardening in their spare time.

In developing countries it is easier to see how class distinction, economics and capitalism work together to create what we have in the US: a bunch of consumer debt. I realize that civilization brings a lot of good- better medicine and surgical treatment, for example. And I really like capitalism because it provides OPPORTUNITY for people. But for some people groups, the draw to consumerism is more powerful than the opportunity that capitalism provides.

What Happened to Subsistence Farmers in the US?Last January we drove through the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. Alongside the road we saw the Mountain Farm Museum and decided to stop and look around. The museum and farm told the story of how the mountain people (subsistence farmers) produced all of their own food, clothing, shelter and entertainment. Then it told how the area became a National Park* and "civilized" people started to come through and basically gawk at the mountain people. Of course these tourists wanted to buy trinkets and souvenirs, so the mountain people started making money selling handcrafts and trinkets to the tourists.

Of course, the cultural influence went both ways. The mountain peoples were introduced to the finery of modern society and got the itch to have fancy new clothes and other things. Unfortunately handcraft sales were not enough to support the mountain people's wants, so they had to take jobs in other areas. Because they had jobs, they couldn't be subsistence farmers and thus, the mountain people were "forced" into poverty.

All of this is kind of ironic, considering the fact that now it is cool to be a "homesteader" and grow all of your own food. I told Hubs, "It's too bad the mountain people didn't just keep wearing their homespun clothes AND selling crafts." They could have made some real money! And perhaps avoided poverty.

Bethany, the Subsistence FarmerI'm so thankful and excited that I got to see a peek of how farming is done in Panama. I look forward this Spring to improving my own little "subsistence farm" (in a middle-class American way, of course!).

Til next time,-Bethany

*I think this is why tourists started coming through, but my memory is a bit foggy on what I read at the museum. I could be wrong.

It actually took us two tries to see the Panama Canal. Though the website says they close at 5:00 pm, what that really means is they kick everyone out at 5:00, and stop letting people in much sooner than that. During our first attempt to visit the Canal, we arrived at 4:15 and the center was already closed. However, during the afternoon most of the big boats come through the canal from 3:00-5:00 pm, so there’s not too wide of a window in which to see this attraction, unless you plan on coming early and hanging out at the resturant or gift shop until the boats come in. Another factor to consider is traffic, which can be horrendous at certain times during the day in Panama City.

​On our second attempt to see the canal, we had already returned our rental car and chose to take a city bus. Unfortunately we got the wrong bus and ended up getting off at a station that was a 20 minute walk/run from the locks. Whoops! It might have been worth a $5 taxi to save us the hassle.

"Texas Lady" about to go through the locks.

In addition to the veiwing deck where you can see boats come through, the center also has a short film to watch (10 minutes), and museum to walk through. The museum is not huge- we were in a hurry and went through in 15-20 minutes, but I don’t think it would take more than an hour to go through at a slower pace. The museum also repeats much of the same information included in the video and what I had read in our Lonely Planet book. You’ll also hear some of this information again on the veiwing deck, though in a thick Spanish accent.

I think the Panama Canal is worth going to, just because it’s the only thing most people know about Panama and besides, it’s only $15 per person. It was kind of cool to see the locks and I enjoyed it even though I am not a huge boat person. But if I were to do it again I would read David McCullough’s Path Between the Seas (I really enjoyed his biography of John Adams), and then plan my transportation to the locks carefully so as to see the big boats without being rushed or bored.

While my sister was with us, we took half a day to drive up to Panama City (where church and the mall are). First we stopped to see ruins of Panama Viejo, that is, “Old Panama”, where the first panama city was. It was founded in 1519 by Spain, and was a major holding place for gold and other treasures being taken from South America to Europe. As such, it became a popular hangout for pirates. In 1671, Captain Henry Morgan (yes, THAT Captain Morgan) sacked the entire city. With the help of over a thousand buccaneers, he took control for almost a month, and left it in shambles. Soon the residents that were left decided to just start over again in a new spot a couple miles away.

Water cistern

What we saw were not entire buildings, but ruins of what were left of the buildings after several hundred years of decay and being scavenged for building materials. We saw ruins of several old churches, convents, and a tall lookout tower used by clergy to oversee the city.After seeing the ruins, we took a shuttle to the museum, which was small but still nice. They had a nice diorama of how the old city looked, along with some artifacts from the time of European settlement but also from earlier times as well.

I enjoyed seeing this site. It was only a few dollars to get in and rarely do I get to see stuff that old at home (most of Michigan’s documented history goes back only to the 1830s, when white settlers first arrived). It was very hot, and I wouldn’t recommend going during the heat of the day like we did. We also underestimated the time that it would take. I was happy to spend a couple hours there, but it cut our time at Casco Viejo short. Of course this was poor planning on our part as well… we should have known that we’d be at McDonalds for 30 minutes waiting for food (not eating... waiting!). The one thing I learned about Panama is that you wait in traffic, you wait to get bus tickets, you wait for your food, wait wait wait. Everything takes twice as long as you think it will.

Casco Viejo

​Casco Viejo was the second site for Panama City, established after Henry Morgan ransacked the first one. Over the years, Panama City grew and expanded rapidly, and Casco Viejo became a kind of slum area for poorer residents, while richer folks moved to new parts of the city. It became run down and dilapitated. Recently there has been some restoration in the area, using the old colonial buildings for hip coffee shops, resturants and hotels. Casco Viejo reminded me a lot of Antigua Guatemala- narrow streets, a beautiful town square, and stately old buildings. Of course I really enjoyed this place as well.

Though it's not particularly known for historical sites, we did stop to see an old Catholic church. I love how big and beautiful some Catholic churches are. It's interesting to see things like graves embedded in the floors and walls, and this particular church had some relics on display. To be honest, it was kind of freaky. But still kinda cool. I'm not aware that these traditions continue in our local Catholic church (I've only been there for weddings and funerals) but I could be wrong. Maybe they just hide the bones in the back... ;)

Casco Viejo was a neat place to see. It was a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of the city and a fun place to hang out.

When we arrived here I was looking for some tea to make in our condo, but couldn't find the herbal fruit teas that I liked. Instead, I thought I'd try making some cold jamaica tea instead. Jamaica tea is basically dried hibiscus flowers- a main flavoring for the herbal fruit teas I'm so fond of. It's more of a common thing there in Central America than in the US, but I've been able to find the dried hibiscus flowers at Horrocks Farm Market in MI. I'm sure there are other specialty stores that carry it, as well.

The other two ingredients in the cold tea are sugar, and I added the juice of one lime for flavor and "brightness". I would have used a lemon, but the grocery store only had limes.

On Friday, the three of us (Hubs, sister & I) got to try our hands at scuba diving. We took a "Discover SCUBA" course through the Panama Dive Center in Santa Catalina. The Discover course is a day long, non-certification course for people who have never dived before. Basically it is just for getting your feet wet (literally!), learning how to use the equipment and see if you enjoy diving or not.

Thursday afternoon we embarked on the long car ride to the beach at Santa Catalina. The area is a big draw for surfers especially, but also other water sports lovers and backpackers. After arriving in the late afternoon, we dropped our stuff off at the hostel (Wahoo Rock, one of the best hostels we've stayed at) and walked down the road to Panama Dive Center. When we got there we were able to try on wet suits, flippers and vests. The first suit I tried on was way to small and I put it on backwards. The next suit was a better fit. The staff were friendly and helpful, and most of them spoke a good amount of English.

The next morning at 7:30 we were at the dive center with our gear, listening to a 15-minute rundown of how our gear worked and what all of the hand signals were for communicating underwater. Then we headed down toward the beach with all of our gear.

Unfortunately it was hard to get good pictures because we were busy and in the water so much, and we didn't have an underwater camera. We could have rented one for $20 at the dive center, but I didn't want to worry about trying to work a camera while learning to scuba dive.

The First DiveOne thing I wish the staff would have made very clear is the #1 rule of scuba diving:

ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOUR BLADDER IS 100% EMPTY BEFORE DIVING.

Not a little bit empty, or half empty, but as near to 100% as humanly possible.

Of course we knew that there wouldn't be a bathroom on the boat, but if worse comes to worse you can always pee through the wet suit, right? WRONG! Just after we got on the boat to leave the island (one hour ride), I realized that I should have gone before we left. By the time we got to the site, I kind of had to pee but thought I could wait until the training dive was done, or at least just go in the water. To make a long story short, "holding it in" was absolutely unbearable, but the pressure from being deep in water made "letting it out" impossible!! I thought it might be worth forfeiting my $190 just to be able to relieve myself. Finally at the fourth exercise, I gave the instructor my "not okay" sign to go up to the surface. Annoyed, he said "Are we children?" in choppy English and helped me take off my equipment. It was kind of embarrassing, but anything is better than death by exploding bladder.

After that, I was able to better listen to instructions. Even so, I still had a hard time understanding the different exercises and remembering what the hand signals meant. The regulator (mouthpiece) made funny noises. It felt like I was in a hospital on oxygen, and my mind kept panicking. Breathing underwater was unnatural and I felt like I was going to suffocate any minute. A couple times I resurfaced and took the mask off because it felt so wrong. Between taking it on and off, I swallowed saltwater and felt nauseous, and got some up my nose, which hurt. It seemed like the instructor had to take me up to the surface after every exercise and re-explain what was going on. At one point I really wanted to quit, but then I remembered that I felt the same way during the beginning of the motorcycle class I took this summer. This too, shall pass, I told myself. I knew that it would be worth finishing the class if I could get through the hard part.

As we did each exercise, we moved progressively deeper and deeper, without ever going up to the surface to breathe "real" air. After the last exercise, we went down even further for a mini-dive. The instructor pointed out some fish and a few other things, but my goggles/mask was fogging up and I was still trying to use the flippers correctly without panicking about my air running out. My nose still hurt from swallowing saltwater. So, I didn't really enjoy the first dive. Plus, I could feel my bladder filling up again, which was kind of concerning.

Finally the dive was over and we were able to go up and breathe real air. What a relief! As we got on the boat, I noticed that my sister looked pained. "My bladder..." she said, "It hurts so bad! It just hurts!" Then my husband climbed in and complained about the same thing.

"It's weird," he said. "I couldn't go even if I wanted to! I think the pressure must have something to do with it." Needless to say, we were all happy when the boat landed. I wish the instructors would have emphasized how bad it would hurt instead of just saying "There's not a bathroom on the boat."

SnorkelingDuring the second part of our trip, the other guy in our group (there were just the three of us in Discover Scuba, and one other guy doing a separate program) did his own dive and we had 45 minutes or so of "free time". The dive center had put snorkels in our bag of equipment, so we were able to snorkel around a coral reef for free. This was a lot of fun for all of us. We didn't have to worry about running out of air or using special equipment or following instructions, but we were still able to see a ton of colorful fish and beautiful aquatic life. We went around the reef several times before the other diver was ready to head back for lunch. I wish I would have had an underwater camera for this part, but we didn't.

LunchWe had lunch at the main island at Coiba National Park. Lunch was a good-sized sandwich provided by the dive center, with water (we had some fruit after the first dive as a snack). During our 30-minute break, we were able to go through the visitor center and learn a little more about the park, which was actually a prison for criminals from 1919 to 2004. Like the zoo we went to, this visitor's center was a little... primitive. My sister posed for a picture of the whale skeleton display, which was just a bunch of bones on the porch.

"...she ate that whale, because she said she could!"

Inside the welcome center there was a walkway with posters explaining some of the wildlife and history of the park, and at the end there was an "exhibit" of bones and dead animals preserved in saltwater/formaldehyde, including a snake, mouse, crabs and other small animals.

After lunch we made one final trip to the bathroom (now that we'd learned our lesson) whilst listening to howler monkeys on another part of the island. Then we got on the boat for the last dive.

The Last DiveAs I had anticipated, the last dive was easier and much more enjoyable than the first. I determined from the start that I would NOT mess around with my mask or mouthpiece (to avoid the saltwater and cloudy lenses). This helped a lot, and of course I was not suffering from intense bladder pain. Going almost 40 feet down the rope was scary, I'll admit. I had to keep telling myself that I would not run out of air, and everything would be okay if I just kept breathing in and out.

We got to the bottom and because of the current, our instructor had us "climb" on rocks at the bottom instead of swimming until we got out of the strong current. This was easy enough to do. After getting out of the current, we went up and around some coral and big rocks. Our instructor pointed out a few different fish, some small sharks, eel-looking morays, and a giant sea turtle. The sea turtle came within a few feet of me. It was crazy! We swam through several schools of fish. This time around I was better able to understand the instructor's hand signals and my lenses didn't fog up. My mouth did get pretty dry and I had to keep reminding myself to breath, but overall the dive was much more enjoyable than the first. Just before we went up, the sea turtle came back to check us out and got right in Hubs' face. I'll admit, I was a little concerned. The turtle was at least four feet wide, at least! Then it was time to go up. Before I knew it we surfaced and it was time to breathe real air again. Whew! I was happy to be done with the dive, but at the same time it was such an awesome thing to literally swim with fishes and be so close to marine life with no glass in between us. Later on the instructor told us that he had only seen a turtle come that close a few times in his life. It was incredible!

After the last dive, we headed back to Santa Catalina to return the gear and fill out some PADI paperwork. After getting back, we returned our equipment, changed out of swimsuits and sat around at the dive center, eating pineapple and looking through fish books. After the paperwork was done, we left around 5:00 pm. It was definitely a full day.

ConclusionI was absolutely happy with this course, though it was more difficult than I thought it would be. At $170 (plus $20 for park entrance fee) it was cheap compared to other scuba courses and certification. In order to have a certification, we would have had to spend three days and $500 on it... before we even knew if it was something we wanted to do! Scuba diving is quite an expensive hobby, and the Discover SCUBA course allowed us a small taste of it without breaking the bank.

I'm not sure that Hubs and I will do an awful lot of diving in the future, we did discover a fun, safe and cheap alternative: snorkeling! All three of us enjoyed the snorkeling a lot, and it allowed us to see most of the same fish as we did on the real dive (though we did not see sharks, morays, or sea turtles while snorkeling). Overall, I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to try my hand at breathing underwater and swimming with turtles. I've got the best life ever!

The other day we visited a little tourist-y town north of where we are staying here in Panama. It was the first afternoon we had with my sister here (she'll be with us for about a week) and we had a lot of fun. El Valle is actually the largest inhabited volcano crater in the world.

We used a Lonely Planet Panama book to find things to do in El Valle. We ended up spending half the time hiking, half of the afternoon at the zoo and a little bit of time at the tourist/artisan market.

Pre-Columbian Rock CarvingsOur first stop was a hike to see some waterfalls and a gigantic rock with Pre-Columbian (that is, before 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas) drawings. The picture above is of Hubs and I under the drawings. Unfortunately nobody knows what the pictures mean, but they are interesting to see. This hike was $5 per person.

Square TreesAfter that hike, we went to see what Lonely Planet called "the square-trunked trees". We thought these might be some kind of man-made spectical, but weren't sure. We couldn't find any type of visitor center or place to pay, so we went into the nearby hotel to ask. A lady there took our money ($3 per person) and led us to a rusty little gate in a patch of woods beside the hotel. From there we walked for 15 minutes or so until we reached the square trunk trees.

Me with a big square tree.

Large bamboo

Square trunk tree

While the trees were certainly interesting, Lonely Planet didn't specify why the trees were so unique, and to me they looked a lot like some of the other trees we have seen in Panama. However, according to one website I read, the trees are a type of cottonwood that are not supposed to grow with square trunks, and rarely do hard angles ever appear on tree trunks. Researchers have concluded that the growing conditions here (volcano crater, perhaps?) have allowed the trunks to grow square.

The ZooOur third stop at El Valle was the zoo. This was probably my favorite stop. Like many other things in Central America, the zoo was rather old and out-of-date, but there were plenty of animals to see. There were lots and lots of birds here, with colors so vibrant I couldn't have designed them myself. And I adored the old-fashioned bird cage design!

Bird cages

Our Lonely Planet book noted that "if you are sensitive to caged animals, you should probably skip this one". The cages were much smaller than zoos in the US. This meant we could actually find and see the animals close up! However, some of them were not really happy to be penned up. One ostrich just kept pecking at the lock on his gate, and there was a male cat (ocelot?) by himself that just kept pacing and sniffing the outside edge of his cage. Online there are a lot of terrible reviews for this zoo because it is "inhumane" or "sad". But I'm sure the owners are doing the best they know how to with what resources they have. It is Central America, you know. I really enjoyed seeing the different animals up close and personal, plus the price was right at $5 per person.

Turtle cage

A bird

The zoo was also a little strange because there were large areas of potted plants and a TON of chickens. We weren't sure where the zoo ended and the farm/nursery began. Many of the buildings and most of the farm animals were unmarked. We thought maybe the chickens were used to feed the zoo's meat eaters, or perhaps the owners had a little side business to help support the zoo. Apparently the zoo is also a botanical garden, which might have accounted for all the potted plants. We got to visit a reptile building there, supposedly home to some of Panama's endangered golden frogs. Unfortunately we couldn't find any golden frogs, but we were able to see some other tree frogs and poison dart frogs, which I'd only read about in books.

Potted lime tree cuttings

Lime blossoms!

Our last stop of the day was a tourist/artisan market. We spent about 45 minutes poking around through hats, bags, beaded jewelry, hammocks, figurines, bowls, painted plates, and a million other things. I ended up buying a soapstone nativity set.

On the other side of the market we bought some fruit (cheaper than the grocery store) and just for kicks I bought some Panamanian sweets/candy. The stick-like candy is made with milk and sugar, and tasted a bit like toffee. The brown granules are made with coconut and cane sugar. They are an interesting flavor blend of coconut with a hint of molasses. I've definitely had worse!

One of my favorite parts of being in a new place (or even being at home!) is learning about new plants. Today we walked some of the golf course where our condo is located and I got to take pictures and identify trees I'd never seen before. There are many bean-type trees here in Panama, as is common in this area of the world. However, we also found fruit trees and trees used for other purposes as well.

Mango trees grow all over the golf course and resort here. The fruit is used for chutneys, salsas, ice cream, jams, and pies. It can also be dried. Some people eat the small green fruits with lemon and saot. Some of the home remedies made from mangos are used to treating intestinal worms, coughs, and diarrhea. The bark is used for diarrhea, fever, and asthma. Oil can be made from the seed and used to replace cocoa butter in chocolate-making. The wood can be used as lumber for furniture, chopping blocks, bowls, flooring and crates.

Mangifera indica (Mango)

A green mango fruit.

Flamboyant trees are one of my favorite here; short and very wide! It is part of the Fabaceae (bean) family, as are many of the trees growing here. After years of having thought to be extinct, the tree was rediscovered in 1932. Now it is a popular ornamental. I was lucky enough to find a flower.

Delonix regia (Flamboyant)

Flamboyant flower

Nance trees produce yellow, sweet-sour fruits. They can be eaten raw, and are also made into preserves, candies, wine, and even ice cream in Brazil. Some think the fruit should not be eaten because it provokes gastrointestinal disorders. The hard and heavy wood is used for cabinets, furniture, tool handles and turned objects. In times past, the bark was used to make red dye for coloring leather, cloth and wooden floors. Parts of the tree are used medicinally for diarrhea, chest colds, and fever. In Venezuela, people make fish poison from the nance.

Byrsonima crassifolia (Nance)

Eucalyptus or gum trees come in 739 species. The trees we found on the golf course were tall with elongated leaves, often grown on plantations. They grow quickly and are used for timber, fuel, tannin, and essential oils. I've done floral arrangements with silver dollar gum (E. cinerea) and seeded eucalyptus, but haven't seen the elongated variety that grows here sold in the US. There are four different types of eucalyptus essential oil that I know of. I like using the oil for homemade vapo-rub.

Eucalyptus bark

Eucalyptus leaves

This Ficus tree we found has been one of the most fascinating of all trees that I've seen. Ficus, or fig, varieties of trees are also called stranglers. They begin growing in the crotch of another tree, and then send aerial roots (that is, roots that don't need water) to the ground and the root eventually becomes another tree trunk. The "host" tree gets overgrown by the fig, fails to get enough sunlight, and dies. After this host tree has decomposed and rotted away, only the multiple- and fused-trunk fig is left. Some stranglers end up with an interior passageway from base to crown, which makes a great jungle gym for kids and adults alike.These types of trees are often grown as bonsai plants, something that is on my list of things to do. :)

I've really enjoyed using my new plant book on this trip. It's helped me learn not only about trees, but also about ornamentals, herbs, flowers and fruit! Just this week I bought some maracuya fruit (Passiflora edulis... the plant I grew in my bedroom!) and today I was able to make a delicious iced juice drink for Hubs and I. The other day I ordered maracuya juice at a restaurant, having no idea what it was, but now I've been enlightened.

This morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the ocean. For about five minutes we could watch the big red ball climb into the sky, and then it came out from the mist and shone so bright we could not look anymore.

At 9:00 we left the condo to catch a taxi into town. After waiting a while, we decided to just start walking. About 10 minutes later we did find a taxi. He charged us $2, less than the usual $3-4. We wondered if it was because he picked us up walking alongside the road and not waiting in front of the resort.

After getting into town we had the hour-long bus ride to the city for church. Of course there were churches nearby, but Hubs wanted to see some of his friends in Panama City, so we went there. The church we went to was a larg(er) Pentecostal church. The building outside just looked like any other city building next to some other businesses. Inside there was a long hall with rooms to each side, that led into the huge sanctuary room with chairs and stage, etc. The music was excellent, and I was able to sing along with some of the songs. I learned the words for "praise" and "cry out" (had to ask Hubs what they were on the slides!). Before we left to come down from MI, I spent some of my dish-washing time listening to Spanish worship music on Youtube, which made some of the words and phrases more familiar.

Another thing I appreciate about Pentecostal worship is how they wave banners during some of the songs. To me it makes the service feel more like a celebration with all of the different colors flying around. Unfortunately I didn't understand most of the sermon. Maybe next time! After the service I got to meet some of the friends Hubs had made while living here several years ago.

After church, Hubs took me to the mall, where he bought me a pecan roll at the Cinnabon stand (delish!!) and we got lunch at one of his favorite restaurants, Leños y Carbón (Firewood & Charcoal), a steak house.

He's one happy guy!

Later we set out to find a chip for Hubs' old cell phone, so he can call people here in Panama. His current phone has free Wifi calling, but if we're not around a hot spot we don't have service. Using the old phone will help a lot for calling the locals here.

Panamanians love their shopping malls. All three malls that I've seen here are bigger than those at home, often with an upper and lower floor to shop on. The Albrook Mall where we were today had a carousel and working train for kids to ride in. You can see how busy it was.

I'm afraid I would get lost in one of these malls!

After we got done at the mall, we hopped on a bus and headed back home. We were so tired that both of us fell asleep and woke up shortly before arriving at our destination. Hubs pointed out that we were fortunate to be heading OUT of the city and not into it. Everyone who had spent the weekend at the beach was headed back to the city, as you can see in the photo.

We stopped at the grocery store on our way home for laundry detergent, and came out with $20 worth of stuff. I love grocery shopping! I found some Ritz cheese and cracker sandwiches (kind of like Oreos!) that were expensive but very delicious. We caught a bus home for $0.35 per person, a big savings over taking a taxi. The problem is, the local buses (big vans) don't run on a schedule so they are hit or miss. But we're happy when we do get to take one.

As if taking me on vacation isn't enough, Hubs offered to do the dishes the whole time we are in Panama. "You're not allowed to wash a single dish while we're here," he told me. What I guy! I really do have the best man ever! Tonight I sat at the counter dunking a banana in Nutella while I watched him do dishes.

Because we chose to stay in a resort area by the beach, there aren't many restaurants in walking distance. To our knowledge, there are three places to eat within walking distance- 1) a pizza place, 2) a dinner joint that opens sporadically, and 3) the resort itself. All of these places charge about $10 per plate, and the resort charges $10 just for breakfast, $15 for lunch, and $20 for dinner.

Hubs and I don't budget at home; we spend only what we need/want to. We've tried budgeting before and it is kind of pointless and frustrating for us as a couple. I tend to feel like a failure if I don't budget lower and lower each month, and Hubs feels obligated to spend more than he needs to just because it was budgeted. We keep track of expenses every month, but if you are living far below your means, I don't think forecasting or "limiting" future spending is necessary. Away from home, though, expenses can easily get out of hand. We could just be penny-pinchers like we are at home, but that's no fun on vacation. A budget helps us know what we can afford, without coming home to find that we spent $10k or something.

All that being said, spending $45 per person per day on food was not in the budget. Thankfully the condo has a nice kitchen, so making great meals at home was is option. Even though groceries cost just as much or more here than in the US, spending $1.50 per plate as opposed to $10 is a massive savings.Eating Regional Foods to SaveOne thing I was looking forward to was finding underpriced food items and cooking locally. In Guatemala the produce is cheap, cheap, cheap, as well as "street food" and little hole-in-the-wall tortillerias. You could buy avocados for $0.60. Here in Panama we've had a harder time finding deals like that. One majorly underpriced item we found was rice. People joke about "rice and beans" being cheap, but in the US I can find meat priced cheaper than rice. Here, rice actually is a good deal. We bought some at $0.40 per pound, not even on sale. Produce prices were comparable to the US, and meat was more expensive- most meat was at least $3.00 per pound, though we were able to find some chicken and seasoned beef for less than that. I saw some hot dogs for $1.50, but I can eat cheap hot dogs at home. We also found some seafood for $3/lb. Is that a good deal? We usually don't buy seafood at home.

What's in this, anyway??

In addition to working with generally higher prices, we also had to take everything home in a taxi. We used one of these cute little grocery carts. I had never seen one before! I'm sure glad we didn't have a bigger cart; otherwise we wouldn't have been able to carry it up to the condo.

When we were at the store, I decided to try some new fruit. Tomarillos, or tree tomatoes, are used to make salsa, desserts, and in Columbia (the country on the east side of Panama) they are blended with ice, sugar and water to make a sweet juice drink. Eaten on their own, they aren't all that great.

After we got home from shopping, Hubs made fried chicken and seasoned rice for us to eat for dinner. He said it was one of his favorite meals to make when he lived in Panama. Hubs doesn't cook a lot, but when he does it usually turns out fantastic!

Chicken & Rice

The total for our meal was $2.03, or just over $1 per plate (which included all the rice we could eat!). We are looking forward to making more great meals on our vacation. When I'm cooking at home I normally stick with cheap meals, but on vacay I'm looking forward to having fancier fare. Even with groceries being more expensive AND fixing more expensive recipes (frying chicken instead of baking it, for example), cooking is so much cheaper than eating out.

In addition to the rice and more boring foods, we also bought some fun foods, because, it is vacation after all! Cereal, Nutella (which I would NEVER buy at home!!!), and we also found our favorite Chiky cookies from Guatemala. We bought those too, of course!

Some Things Are Better In the USThings we don't like buying in Central America are pizza and ice cream. They put strange toppings on the pizza (hotdogs...) and the ice cream just doesn't taste quite right. Dairy products are pretty expensive, and I noticed that the yogurt and cheese have a "homemade" aftertaste. There is some real refrigerated milk available here in Coronado (almost $6 per gallon!), but the first grocery store we went to only had non-refrigerated, ultra-pasteurized milk in boxes. This is typical in Guatemala as well. Lastly, lunchmeats can be weird here as well. The ham we bought tasted like tuna fish, and other ham we've had tastes like bologna or hotdogs.

That being said, I hope all you at home are taking advantage of the great deals and eating real pizza and ice cream this week.

I will be the first one to say that I love souvenirs. I'll drag my husband into gift shop after gift shop, because I can't keep myself from admiring all of the cool stuff. However, a couple years ago I realized that buying "stuff" as a souvenir isn't as fun as it once was. Rarely do I see an item I like that can't be bought online for half the price. And furthermore, I'm just not interested in collecting stuff like I used to be. I'd rather be collecting experiences, skills, and memories. Things that won't break or get lost as years go by.

A ProblemLast year when we were in Central America, I had the most fun walking through the markets and looking at different fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables. Unfortunately I didn't know what half of it was, and my Spanish wasn't good enough to ask and then remember what it was called.

Another thing I loved to do was admiring the beautiful tropical plants and flowers that we would find spilling over rooftops in Antigua or blooming on the side of some dusty road in the country. Again, the flowers were lovely but I had no idea what they were.

Know what any of these plants are? I don't, either.

A SolutionThis year I decided to make my vacation more enjoyable by learning some of the plants ahead of time. To do this, I bought a book about tropical plants of Costa Rica (because I couldn't find one for Panama). In this book there are over 430 plants profiled. These range from trees to flowers to fruits and grasses, with each entry including a photograph, pertinent illustrations, plant description (including flowering time, where it grows and related species), and my favorite part... "Comments". This section includes interesting tidbits like historical use of the plant, medicinal properties and other cool factoids.

Only a few days after the book arrived, I discovered that one of my favorite Central American fruits is actually a type of vine that I grew in my bedroom as a teenager. I grew it for the flowers, but as it turns out the fruit is wonderful as well!

"Snot fruit" in my book...

"Snot fruit" in real life...

Why Buy Before the Trip?Traditionally, souvenirs are bought during the trip, not before. However, I've had bad luck finding exactly what I want at gift shops (regional or traditional recipe books, for example), and when I do find it the item costs 200% what it would, used, on Amazon. If the item IS something I can buy online, I'll do a little research and buy it ahead of time. In the case of my plant book, I was able to look forward to our trip even more, knowing that I could spend my time actually identifying plants instead of looking for the book at a gift shop (which I never would have found, because they don't even make a plant book for Panama).

Buying a souvenir ahead of time allows you to find something that is useful and that you will really enjoy for years to come. It allows you to price-shop (and thus save money), and also ensures that you will enjoy your souvenir throughout the trip. If it is something you won't use on your trip, buying ahead of time still lets you get what you want for a good price, and you don't have the hassle of bringing it back home.

What I'm DoingThough I bought one vacation "souvenir" before we ever left home, it's not the only thing I'll have from Panama. Next week I'll be doing a post on free souvenirs, but in addition to the free- and pre-souvenirs I still plan on buying some "stuff" to take home, because we have room in the suitcase anyway. However, what I wanted to buy most (the plant book) is taken care of.

Though it only cost around $20, the knowledge gained from my plant book will return with me every time we come to Central America. In fact, tropical plants and those sold as houseplants, exotic fruits and herbs overlap a great deal, so even if I never return to the Caribbean or Central America my book will still serve me well at home.